February
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CLONING
Erin Jessica Jacob
THE HISTORY OF CLONING
cloning humans? Is is even possible?
Cloning has been going on in the Natural World for thousands of years
ADVANTAGES VS. DISADVANTAGES
USES, FUNCTIONS, GOALS Medical Research, Bringing back Exstinct animals, and even
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Are there enough Disadvantages to weigh out the Advantages that cloning has for society?
Light Micrograph of a sheep egg and udder cell during the cloning of “Dolly” See pg. 7
Extra Feature: The Creation of Dolly
CLONING February 2012
Overview and Background of Cloning: A clone is simply one living thing made from another, that results in two seperate organisms with the same set of genes.
Plant cloning has been known and practiced for centuries
THE HISTORY OF CLONING: HOW IT ALL BEGAN Depending on the cell, whether it is “differentiated� or not, allows scientists to manipulate the cell in such a way that a new organism is developed from the original cell According to the University of Utah
plants, through aeroponic prorogation for
Genetic Science Learning Center, cloning is
example, allows gardeners to replicate a
the creation of an organism that is an exact
genetically identical plant from the parent
genetic copy of another. A clone is simply
plant. The cloned plant will hold the exact
one living thing made from another, leading
same characteristics as the original.
to two organisms with the same set of
Everything from growth habit, disease
genes. Since the 30s, experiments have
resistance, fruit shape, flower color and yield
been made in producing identical individuals
potential will be exactly the same.
by artificial twin splitting, a procedure which
The first cloned animals were created
can be referred to as cloning. Advances in
by Hans Dreisch in the late 1800's. Dreich's
knowledge and related developments in the
original goal was not to create identical
procedures of molecular biology, genetics
animals, but to prove that genetic material is
and artificial fertilization have made it
not lost during cell division. Dreich's
possible to experiment with and
experiments involved sea urchins, which he
successfully achieve the cloning of plants
picked because they have large embryo
and animals.
cells, and grow independently of their
Plant cloning has been known and
mothers.
practiced for centuries. The cloning of
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Petri Dish A shallow glass or plastic cylindrical lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells or small moss plants
GOALS
Looking at Cloning: Uses, Functions and Goals. WHY CLONE?
although all of the genes are in fact identical, there is no guarantee that the beloved pet will have the same personality as it had before.
Research advances over the past decade have told us that, with a little work, we as humans can clone just about anything we want, from frogs to monkey and eventually even ourselves! So, we can clone things, but the real question is WHY? 1. Cloning for Medical Purposes: Of all the
4. Cloning Humans: To clone or not to clone: that is the question. The prospect of cloning humans is highly controversial and raises a number of ethical, legal and social challenges that need to be considered. Reasons for wanting to clone a human would be; to help infertile couples have children or to replace a deceased
reasons, cloning for medical purposes has the
child
most potential to benefit large numbers of
GOALS:
people. Cloning animal models of disease: Much of what
1. Organ and Tissue Reserve: Human
researchers learn about human disease comes
cloning research might provide insights that
from studying animal models such as mice.
could be valuable in the field of organ
Cloning technologies might reduce the time
transplantation. National Institutes of Health
needed to make a transgenic animal model, and
director Dr. Harold Varmus stated that possibly
the result would be a population of genetically
one area of cloning research might provide
identical animals for study.
methods of growing skin, which could then be
Cloning stem cells for research: Stem cells are
used in grafting for burn victims and patients with
the body's building blocks, responsible for
skin-destroying diseases. He explained that
developing, maintaining and repairing the body
nuclear transplantation cloning technology, by
throughout life. As a result, they might be used to
enhancing an “understanding of how genes are
repair damaged or diseased organs and tissues.
turned off and on and how we can make different
“Pharming” for drug production: Farm animals
kinds of cell types, not whole human beings, but
such as cows, sheep and goats are currently
different kinds of human tissues for
being genetically engineered to produce drugs or
transplantation and for treatment of disease,
proteins that are useful in medicine. Just like
offers tremendous prospects.”
creating animal models of disease, cloning might
2. Reproductive Technology: Cloning
be a faster way to produce large herds of
research may lead to greater insights into the
genetically engineered animals.
mechanisms of human reproduction— for
2. Reviving Endangered or Extinct
example, by enhancing understanding of the high
Species: Could we really clone dinosaurs? In
rate of spontaneous abortions in natural
theory? Yes. What would you need to do this? A
situations. Such research could lead to infertility
well-preserved source of DNA from the extinct
treatments.
dinosaur, and A closely related species, currently
3. Disease Research and Treatment:
living, that could serve as a surrogate mother. In
Cloning research technology could help increase
reality? Probably not. It's not likely that dinosaur
understanding of how genes turn on and off and
DNA could survive undamaged for such a long
why cells divide, leading to potential treatments
time. However, scientists have tried to clone
for genetic diseases, cancer, and neurological
species that became extinct more recently, using
traumas. It could also help researchers to
DNA from well-preserved tissue samples.
understand, and potentially reverse, the aging
3. Reproducing a Deceased Pet: If you had enough money, you could clone your beloved family cat. At least one biotechnology company in the United States offers cat cloning services for the privileged and bereaved, and they are now working to clone dogs. The issue with this is that
Medical Cloning Reproducing Exstinct Animals Cloning animals
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process.
Genetic Cloning To Bring Back Lost Organisms. Genetic Cloning can help us bring back older animals that have been extinct for many years. We want to try and clone these
so someone can see trees that they have never seen before, as long with the fact that they bring a whole new species to a place where the species has never been before. This is bad because it can bring all bad diseases into this area as well as all of the animals that the trees
organisms to help us find out many new things
need to live. These can be bad because the
that have not been discovered about a certain
people in this area can might not be able to fight
species. Michael Taylor – A big tree hunter –
off the diseases that the native people are able
wants to remake some trees that have already
to fight off the diseases that are live with these
been cut down that have little of their species
trees. The goals of cloning animals and plants
left. He thinks that their stump has potential to
are both high, but the goals for plants are a lot
create a whole new tree that was there before,
higher, because it is a lot easier and not as
or to take those cells from those stumps to
sophisticated as cloning plants. Plants are a lot
create a totally new tree somewhere else. There
harder to do and would not live as long because
is also the goal to create a place where there
they would not be as genetically diverse. In the
are all different types of exotic trees that have
future the scientists want to be able make the
never been in some parts of the country or even
species in animals more genetically diverse.
the continent. This brings forth both good
CLONED
outcomes and bad consequences. It makes it
Depending on how complex an organism’s DNA is determines how difficult it will be to clone. scientists were able to clone a sheep much easier than they were able to clone a dog because of the complexity that a dog’s DNA contains
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IN THE MEDIA
Cloning in Jurassic Park Live dinosaurs cloned from the DNA extracted from dinosaur blood preserved inside mosquitos that had been fossilized in tree sap. Whether this is possible or not is not the main question. What would happen if dinosaurs once again roamed the world?
Cloning in the Media: Body doubles, Storm Troupers, Tyrannosaurus Rex DNA cloning has occurred in many different media sources but because there are going to be new ways to make genetic cloning easier, the one that has been most commonly and widely viewed is by far and a lot more likely to happen. This in turn can make the ideas for new Jurassic Park. In this movie the cloned dinosaurs escape from an exhibit movies or new ways to give more insight to the public on cloning, so they and run wild. This movie faces what most movies face; they can either be will learn more about it. The media is by far the most viewed subject in insightful and most likely boring, or made with false facts to make them today society, so if we can make the media have more knowledgeable Clones more entertaining to viewers. This movie falls more under the category of aspects to it the common public will have more correct information on the entertainment. But with all of that being said it has some truth to the were made current topics that they would not necessarily have from other places. movie as well. This is good because this movie was watched by famous numerous people worldwide and for 4 years was the most successful film up to that time making 900 million dollars. This is good because the through more the people that see it the more people can learn about cloning, and even media while it was not fully true it had some insight to the movie. This is also good because it can make it so some people may want to learn more about cloning and look more into it because of this movie. This is not the only movie that does this but this movie is the most seen and most successful, This can also occur in technology
CLONING IN OTHER MOVIES
THE ISLAND
THE 6TH DAY
SPY KIDS 2
A.I.
A man goes on the run after he discovers that he is actually a "harvestable being", and is being kept as a source of replacement parts, along with others, in a Utopian facility.
Futuristic action about a man who meets a clone of himself and stumbles into a grand conspiracy about clones taking over the world.
The Cortez siblings set out for a mysterious island, where they encounter a genetic scientist and a set of rival cloned spy kids.
Artificial Intelligence
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A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become "real" so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
ADVANTAGES VS. DISADVANTAGES Could Scientists go too far? Cloning could cause the use of materials foreign
sheep another cloning disadvantage became
to the human body to no longer be necessary.
apparent. The genetic material used in the
Through Cloning doctors would be able to
cloning of Dolly the sheep was taken from a 6
manufacture human bone and fat tissue so that
year old sheep. When Dolly was cloned the
these foreign materials that may cause
sheep began to show symptoms only an older
many reasons, but despite the negatives that
problems in the human body will no longer be
sheep should get, this caused an inclination that
have shown their face in cloning the positives
used. Through cloning the human race would
because Dolly had the genes of a 6 year old
are quite spectacular. Cloning allows science to
gain all these advantages and many more that
sheep she was 6 years old on the day she was
take the next step in many different situations.
have yet to be discovered.
Cloning Produces Advantages for Mankind: Cloning is a very controversial subject for
From helping infertile couples to helping dying or sick people cloning allows diverse and abundant positives for science.
Cloning
allows for vast advances in the medical world. Through cloning scientists are able to work with diseases to find what causes them and how you can possibly fix them. Scientists are able to clone a healthy animal multiple times then insert a disease into the clones. This allows them to see what is genetically different between the healthy original and the sickly clone which points out what causes that disease and allows them to pin point what they need to cure to stop this disease. The main point of this cloning is to allow scientists to find a cure for human diseases through testing on animals rather then on humans. Cloning is necessary for this research to occur because the testing must be done on a population of animals with the same genetic makeup in order for them to get accurate research. Another way cloning effects the medical world is by pairing cloning with stem cell research. Research with stem cells has shown that stem cells can be grown to produce organs or tissues to either repair or replace damaged ones. The down fall of stem cell research is that stem cells can often be rejected from the human body. Pairing this research with cloning may show to be the way around rejection from the human body/immune systems. This would be a remarkable discovery for the medical community because it would mean there was a cure for many diseases. Diseases such as Alzhelmers, Parkinsons, and heart failure would all be cured by this discovery.
Cloning allows for these
positive outcomes and many more. Cloning also allows for infertile couples to be able to have children of their own and create a family with their genetic background and also could allow for a very large change in cosmetic surgery.
Advantage? born. This meant she was going to die at a or Cloning: Hindering the Human Kind younger age because she was being effected by problems that only occur in old age. Another Disadvanta Cloning offers many possible problem found from cloning animals is that the opportunities for humans but these come withge? many other disadvantages. The subject on cloning can be as controversial as abortion, not only are there problems with the actual science behind cloning but many people also have problems with the morality of cloning. There are many problems that go along with cloning wether it be the uncertainty of the technology or wether humans should be able to create another human life unnaturally these problems may be enough to stop the cloning research all together. One of the main problems with cloning is the uncertainty of the technology. The questions that go along with cloning are indefinite. One main question involved with cloning is wether we will even be able to control the results of cloning. Even scientists say they cannot answer. This causes a huge problem in the advancement of cloning research, what happens if we create something we cannot control and it ends up hindering human kind rather then helping it. Wether this is an unnatural “Frankenstein monster” or wether it is a new disease produced by some flaw in the cloning system the effects on humans could be grave. Another worry that comes from cloning is that cloning can lead to an extinction of mankind. If humans were cloned it would create mass amounts of people with the same genetic makeup, this could allow for one disease to wipe out the entire human race due to an inability to fight this disease off. This is not the only way cloning could cause the extinction of human kind, cloning also causes problems with inbreeding. Because all clones would have the same genotypes the trail of human life would eventually led to extinction. Through the cloning of Dolly the
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personality of the clone can greatly differ from
the animal the genetic material was taken from, this is just another problem added onto the list. The morality of cloning is just another problem involved with cloning. Many religions believe God is the only one that should have control over human life. These people believe that the people involved with cloning are “playing god”. These are just some of the many problems and disadvantages that come along with cloning and without a guarantee cloning will not end up hindering human kind it is likely that cloning research will have to be stopped all together.
ADVANTAGES VS. DISADVANTAGES CONTINUED...
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